DUNEDIN, FLA.—In any current ranking of top starting pitching duos in the American League, the Jays’ tandem of Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow would rate around seventh among 14 AL teams. But the Jays’ young, talented duo has a chance to move up in those rankings if Morrow can simply become more consistent and if both men reach 200 innings pitched in 2012.

“I think Ricky’s pretty much already there,” Morrow said. “Of course everybody has room to improve and if I’m able to step into what I think I can be, what I’ve shown over two good stretches over a whole season, then I think me and Ricky can be right there with anybody’s top two.”

To make that unofficial AL pitching evaluation, a good place to start would be to look for a combined 400 innings from both pitchers, then to check out the win totals and their WHIP.

The top three AL pairs must be led by the Angels’ Dan Haren and Jered Weaver, the Rays’ James Shields and David Price, and the Tigers’ Justin Verlander and Doug Fister. The next three might be comprised of the Yankees’ CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda, the Red Sox’ Jon Lester and Josh Beckett, and the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez and Jason Vargas.

On that list, the Jays’ pair has a chance to move up quickly. The talent is there with Morrow, but 162 games is a marathon of focus. In his second-year in the starting rotation, the Jays have built him up gradually in terms of innings. That is very unlike how the Rangers handled their own reliever-turned-starter, C.J. Wilson. The Rangers’ workhorse lefty pitched 480 innings the last two years, including two post-seasons. He parlayed that into a huge free-agent deal with the Angels. Will he last? By comparison, Morrow has been babied by the Jays, but he insists he agrees with the Jays’ master plan.

“I think it’s worked, to build up that innings count,” the hard-throwing 27-year-old said. “I felt strong all year last year. My struggles in August and early September weren’t related to fatigue or anything like that. I think I proved that at the end when I was able to put together the good starts and maintain my velocity. There wasn’t any sort of dip in that. I struggled when I wasn’t able to get my off-speed over and keep it in the zone, especially my curveball because it’s my biggest change of speed pitch. A hitter can sit on the 88-95 difference between my fastball and my slider.”

The organization was highly encouraged by Morrow’s final two weeks. In his last three outings against the Yankees, Rays and White Sox he had a 0.86 ERA, pitching 21 innings, allowing two runs on 11 hits, with 10 walks and 24 strikeouts. It was a good way to head home for the winter. Morrow believes he can carry that improvement forward. The key is not max-effort every pitch, but almost.

“There’s that fine line that everybody walks relating to their effort level,” Morrow explained. “For me it’s not throwing as hard as you can ... every single time. It’s the effort level, especially with the off-speed stuff where it’s still a good pitch, still in the strike zone but something that the hitter has to respect. My struggles weren’t really related to pacing myself, more trying to force contact with the off-speed stuff, where I probably didn’t have as much confidence in being able to keep it in the strike zone. That’s something that I’ve gotten better at is being able to put the same arm speed and keep it in the zone long enough for the hitter to commit to it.”

Morrow, a Type 1 diabetic since he was a teen, is more mentally prepared for this spring training than any he has attended before. He is financially secure with a new three-year, $21 million contract. As such he no longer needs to impress his bosses to earn a job at training camp.

“This being my third camp for the Blue Jays, there’s a certain amount of comfort that you have,” Morrow admitted. “Also, it’s my third year of being a full-time starter. My first year I had to first make the team. There wasn’t a guarantee of that. Then the next year we knew a little bit of what we wanted to do, but the focus was more on working on my strengths, getting those ready.

“Then this year I’m focused more on my weaknesses, trying to bring those along. I’ve thrown a bunch of curveballs and changeups in my bullpens. I haven’t even thrown a slider or a cutter yet in bullpens or BP because those are easier movements to get used to. I’ve tried to bring those other pitches along before I bring the other stuff in.”

Morrow and Romero face off in the team’s only intra-squad game on Friday. If the Jays are to compete, they need to establish an elite starting pitcher duo at the top of the rotation, one that consistently goes deep into games and hangs around for wins. Romero and Morrow are that pair, but they need to go out and prove they truly deserve to be ranked among pitching’s most dynamic duos.

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